


90%

by BuruRaven



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Canon Compliant Up To Chapter 106, Conversation About Death, Conversation about Demons, Fluff, Gen, No Slash, Planned Petty Revenge on a Defenseless Piece of Furniture, Power Imbalance, Somewhere After the Green Witch Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 12:56:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4836224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuruRaven/pseuds/BuruRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“I don’t recall any power overriding clauses in our agreed contract.”</i>
  <br/>
  <i>The demon sobered immediately. There was a long pause during which they both looked into each other’s eyes with equally intense poker faces. Sebastian uncharacteristically seemed to be at a loss for words.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>“I wonder how many non-specified exceptions are there to our agreement.”, Ciel stated in a conversational tone of voice, “Like you trying to consume my soul before conceding my wish.”</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Sebastian frowned.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>“I have never…”</i>
  <br/>
  <i>He blinked. Suddenly, his expression softened.</i>
</p><p>This fic was originally posted on my tumblr on July 6th, 2015, <a href="http://bururaven.tumblr.com/post/123372373114/90">here</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler. Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler is the property of Yana Toboso, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this, nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

A short intake of breath in the darkness and soon the boy was quietly seating up in the middle of his huge four post bed. No nightmare had forced him into consciousness, only the uncomfortable feeling of darkness engulfing him. He imagined it this time, but he could not forget the searing, familiar, hungry darkness, crawling over his limbs, trying to reach his mortgaged core a bit too soon.

Never had Ciel feared that darkness. Sometimes, he actually longed for it to come and end him. What was leaving the young earl on edge, especially in his lighter stages of sleep, was the treason of his soul’s almost theft. Ciel had never truly trusted the demon but, until the recent events in Germany, he had trusted that Sebastian would always respect their contract above all. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

[_Don’t kid me. You’re the one I can trust the least_.](http://www.mangapanda.com/kuroshitsuji/104/16)

Ciel looked through a small uncovered space between the curtains of his window. Outside, the clear starry sky of a spring night, eerily illuminated by a glaring full moon, dripped over the quiet building and its surrounding grounds.

Quietly, the boy got out of bed. He needed some milk, but he didn’t want to call for Sebastian. So, he would do something he hadn’t done in a long while - pay a visit to the kitchen.

Walking barefoot through the dark, cold corridors of the sleeping manor, Ciel fully expected Sebastian to pop out at every corner and sarcastically inquire about his quest and attire. He knew the demon was awake and most probably perfectly aware of what Ciel was doing. Right now, the advantage of that part of their connection felt suffocating, like the dark embrace at the Green Witch’s. Ciel absentmindedly fiddled with his nightgown’s collar. A self-preservation instinct was trying to arise from deep inside, inciting him to find a way to insure the demon’s compliance with their contract. But Ciel had always known he could never fully control the creature. All the power the earl had over the demon was but a temporary illusion and Ciel had always been perfectly aware of that. He would never admit it, but maybe an obscure, naïve part of him had tried to believe otherwise, especially after the events at the Campania… How shamefully foolish of him.

In the kitchen, clearly illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the short and wide windows near the ceiling, the oven was still slightly warm to the touch. Ciel wondered if Bard or Sebastian had been cooking something beforehand for next day’s luncheon. A shiver run through him when he remembered that Sieglinde and Lizzie would be meeting each other for the first time then.

The boy looked around himself and sighed irritably. He had no idea where the milk might be. Trying to be quiet about it, Ciel opened some of the cupboards he could easily reach, but his search came out fruitless.

“Where is it?”, he murmured to himself.

Mindful of the need to make as little noise as possible, the boy used a chair to try and reach the taller cupboards. All that those cupboards held were glasses.  _If only they had cups, at least_ … He stretched further in his precarious perch on top of the battered chair to try and take a better look at the tallest shelf of the cupboard, but the thing creaked ominously, giving a little under his feet. Ciel lost his balance momentarily and almost fell, regaining composure at the last second. The earl exhaled a small sigh of relief and stared reproachfully at the chair under him, deciding that tomorrow he would have it burn.

Suddenly the boy remembered that milk came in glass bottles that were stashed in metal crates. Wouldn’t those be kept at ground level? He took a careful look around, noticing what could very well be a metal crate by the sink. On approaching it, though, the thing ended up being what looked like three cooling racks on top of each other.

An instinctive wish to call for Sebastian was starting to arise from his milk-driven frustration, but Ciel strong-headedly stomped on it.

He decided to give up on the milk and simply drink a glass of water from the water jug standing unsuspectingly on the counter top. He came closer to his new goal but… there was no glass in sight for him to pour the water into. His eyes slid upwards to the tall cupboard full of glasses he had so difficultly opened just some minutes ago. Then, they slid to the untrustworthy chair and a protuberant vein angrily pulsated on his temple. Exasperated, Ciel turned to return to his bedroom, where Sebastian always kept a glass of water for him on the nightstand, should he need it during the night.

“Nightmares, Young Master?”, came a familiar deep voice from behind him.

Ciel turned on his heels, trying to hide his surprise as he saw Sebastian standing right where he had been just seconds ago, beside the water jug.

“No. I just wanted some milk.”, he answered truthfully.

Sebastian cocked his head to the side.

“Why didn’t you call for me?”

“I felt like walking.”

Sebastian’s eyes flashed red.

“Barefoot?”

“This is my house, I walk around it like I very well please.”, Ciel answered irritably.

Sebastian smirked.

“Why don’t you go back to your room, Young Master? I will take the milk upstairs in a minute.”

Ciel hesitated. His mouth opened and closed.

His eyes slid to Sebastian’s shadow, stretching through the kitchen floor towards him. Without thinking, he took a step backwards. His hand flew to his uncovered right eye. He had forgotten the eyepatch upstairs. His hand dropped as he tried to rein in on the recollection of the uncomfortable smothering feeling Sebastian’s shadow had just provoked in him. When he looked up again to give Sebastian some bratty reply, the demon’s face stood at eye level, just a few centimeters from his own.

“Is there something the matter, Young Master?”, he asked with a mischievous smile. His gloved hand lightly touched the cheek under Ciel’s marked eye. Ciel moodily batted it away.

He had to distract him. In no circumstance could he ever show weakness to Sebastian.

“Is there some sort of social hierarchy to your kind?”, Ciel blurted suddenly.

Sebastian blinked.

“I beg your pardon?”

Ciel tsked impatiently.

“Is there some kind of social construct or organization in the demon society? Is there even such a thing as a society? Or are you just disconnected beasts, all roaming about aimlessly?”

The demon stared at him inexpressively. Somehow, Ciel felt like Sebastian knew full well Ciel was trying to distract him. Strangely enough - or actually, maybe not strangely at all -, after a pause, he seemed to decide to play along.

“Even you must know there is a king.”, he stated calmly.

“Yes. But what are all the others? Minions? Are you all equals?”

“No.” Sebastian raised to his full height and smiled innocently down at Ciel. “Maybe we should end this conversation elsewhere.”, he beatifically suggested.

Ciel raised a questioning eyebrow at Sebastian’s sudden demeanor - which looked somewhat disturbing on him - and discreetly looked around the empty kitchen. No one could be seen.

“Wha-…?”

A snake quietly slithered through the doorway and towards the still slightly warm oven.  _Oh_.

“Well, bring the milk to my room. And be quick about it.”, Ciel haughtily requested as he walked out of the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

“So…?”, Ciel promptly asked after sipping once at his milk with honey. He held the cup on top of his bent knees, ignoring the tray dish on which Sebastian had carried the cup upstairs.

The butler grasped both hands to the little tray dish and held them elegantly behind his back, standing by the bed.

“We are not all equals. There is a social hierarchy, even though it is less based on our material possessions or bloodline - like in the human world - and more on our relative power, seniority and original form.”, he explained.

“And I take it fallen angels are the oldest and most powerful?”, Ciel interjected.

“Correct. Minions, like you called them, are the lowest on our rankings, they originate from twisted human souls, usually kept from procedural soul processing due to some unnatural event, rotten so deeply they cannot be consumed. They also cannot take a form of their own in the human world, therefore they usually resort to possession.”

“You are not a minion.”, Ciel stated matter-of-factly. Sebastian had a body of his own.

“No. I am what you would understand better as an [earl](http://bururaven.tumblr.com/tagged/Raum).”, the butler replied with an amused tone of voice.

Ciel took another sip from his cup, positioning himself more comfortably on the bed. Black feathers and high heels permeated the back of his memory.

“But your liege doesn’t seem to exert any active power over your activity, like mine does…”, he stated with a thoughtful expression, “Do you follow his orders?”

“If he sends them my way.”

“And they supplant mine?”

“Naturally.”, Sebastian replied with a little chuckle.

Ciel laid back against his pillows with a sigh. He was getting sleepy. Suddenly, he remembered what had made him walk downstairs that night instead of calling for Sebastian.

“I don’t recall any power overriding clauses in our agreed contract.”

The demon sobered immediately. There was a long pause during which they both looked into each other’s eyes with equally intense poker faces. Sebastian uncharacteristically seemed to be at a loss for words.

“I wonder how many non-specified exceptions are there to our agreement.”, Ciel stated in a conversational tone of voice, “Like you trying to consume my soul before conceding my wish.”

Sebastian frowned.

“I have never…”

He blinked. Suddenly, his expression softened.  _So that’s what this is about_.

“[I was only 90% serious.](http://www.mangapanda.com/kuroshitsuji/95/21)”

Ciel tsked.

“As per contract, you really could not.”

Sebastian chuckled again. Ciel simulated a kick in the butler’s general direction. This was a serious conversation.

“I was 90% serious about dragging you out of the state you were in, the way Tanaka had sagely advised me to.”, he smirked.

Ciel smirked back.

“Maybe you had a bit too much fun at it.”, Ciel stated mockingly-reproachfully.

Something akin to relief permeated his chest. He took another slow sip from his cup while trying to make sense of his emotions. He knew he could never fully trust the demon, but trusting their contract was really the only thing he had most days. Ciel suddenly felt much less tense by Sebastian’s presence. He was also feeling increasingly sleepier. Still, he had to ask.

“What were the other 10%, then?”

“Failing to drag you out.”

“Eating me then would still not satisfy the parameters of the contract.”, Ciel quipped usefully, while discreetly rubbing his drooping eyelid. He suppressed a yawn.

“If I had failed to bring you back, you would most probably succumb, as you were injured and weren’t even eating. Once you were dead, the contract would be void. I could still have your soul, like I could any body-less soul, outside of any contract.”, Sebastian explained quietly.  _As long as I was fast enough to grab it before the Shinigami did. And, believe me, My Lord, I would_. He discreetly licked his lips.

Ceil’s tired eyes closed and opened sluggishly.

The butler reached for the almost empty cup still in his master’s loose grip and rearranged the covers so they would be more snuggle-y around his sleepy charge. Ciel sighed softly.

“Is it anything like what you did to me? Eating a soul?”, he asked in a sleep-garbled murmur.

“No. It is nothing like that.”, Sebastian murmured back. _It’s worse_.

“Good… that was unpleasant…”

Ciel’s eyes closed and his breathing pattern slowed and deepened. Satisfied, Sebastian left his master’s side, softly closing the bedroom door after himself.


End file.
